


You and I

by tomlinsong



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-23
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-06 06:32:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/732511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomlinsong/pseuds/tomlinsong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A girl trio, Wild Siren, auditions for X Factor USA and at Judges’ House, their guest judges are none other than One Direction. Emilia and one of the members meet and sparks fly. But they’re going to have to endure some difficult obstacles to get their storybook ending. If it’s even in the stars for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that I also have on movellas and I found out about this site, so I decided to put it on here. Uhm.. I sometimes make outfits to go with this, so if you wanted to see it, go to craccola.polyvore.com.

The vibrations in the floor scared the trio of Emilia Rosen, Tess Halliday, and Austyn Olson to their cores. Behind the black curtains, the crowd of 8,000 some people screamed, cheered and yelled. Emilia looked to the television screen where a girl about 18-years-old performed confidently. As if she had been performing since she were a toddler. The girl had a nice voice but the pitchiness in it was apparent. Licking her lips, Emilia turned away from the screen and looked around the backstage area. At the vanities, people were touching up their makeup, talking with their families, giving themselves a pep-talk or practicing their song. Turning back around, her best friends were coping with their nerves in different ways. Tess was pacing, her cherry red hair whipping every time she turned. Austyn was leaning against metal scaffolding, biting her manicured nails.  
Taking a deep breath, Emilia flipped back to watch the screen. The girl was just finishing her song. She sang an Adele song which was risky, especially with Simon. In previous seasons, Simon openly expressed how overdone Adele was. She didn’t have a clue why this girl decided to sing it. When the girl finished and the crowd had settled, she stood at the center of the stage, staring at the four judges.  
“Did she do any good?” Tess came up next to her. She was looking at the plasma screen, focused on the constructive criticism the judges were saying.  
Emilia looked sideways then turned back to the television, murmuring, “She did okay. Pitchy, though.” She turned to Tess, looking down, slightly. In heels, Emilia stood six inches above Tess, when she chose to wear boots, like she wore today. She swiped a stray piece of her chocolate brown hair behind her ear. “We’ll do fine,” she said, trying to convince herself more than Tess. Out the three of them, Emilia was the most introverted. This performance would be the most difficult for her.  
“Of course,” Tess smiled. “We’re amazing.”  
She nodded back when a guy wearing a black T-shirt with the show logo on it called for the trio. He had a black headset that he talked into as he directed the girls into the wing. Emilia peered at the stage looking at the girl walk to the wing. She looked on the verge of crying. She ran out through the curtains to the arms of her awaiting loved ones. Emilia watched as they comforted and coddled her. She took a deep breathe, turning to Austyn and Tess looking back at her. Their eyes showed fear and excitement.  
The guy with the black T-shirt handed each of them a black microphone. It was different, but not by much, from the microphones they’re used to using at their apartment where they usually practice. He gave each of them a polite shove onto stage. Tess led them onto the stage, lightly stepping with her black combat boots. Austyn followed behind clinking her heels and Emilia was last, wearing simple black heels. They were all dressed way differently but it fit together well.  
Tess wore a white collared sleeveless shirt with high-waist black brocade shorts. The shirt had studs accenting the shoulders. Austyn chose to wear a gray cutout sleeve T-shirt, black jeans and studded heels. And finally, Emilia wore a leather pleated skirt and an off white T-shirt. They moved to the middle of the stage nervously. Emilia could feel her heart pounding though her chest like a police force at open fire.  
There, in front of her, sat L.A. Reid, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, and Simon Cowell: the four people who have the power to make them famous, to say the one word to make their dream come true. Emilia’s microphone was shaking in her hand.  
“Hello, girls. Tell us the name of your group.” The first person to talk, L.A., asked.  
Tess held her lips together, before parting them to speak into the mike. “We are Wild Siren. I’m Tess.” And down the row, they introduced themselves rather shakily, but it went unnoticed. At least, hopefully.  
“Where did you get that name from?” Demi asked, her eyebrows moving together in curiosity.  
Tess chuckled. “Well, it’s a mermaid reference, Siren. We were and are really fascinated with mermaids and we're all a bit wild and crazy."  
The judges laughed. “Where are you from?”  
Austyn lifted her mike to her lips. “We’re originally from Las Vegas, but we moved to L.A. a year and a half ago.”  
“Okay and what are you girls singing?” L.A. asked smiling, his white teeth blatant and blinding.  
“Run by Snow Patrol.”  
The four judges nodded their subtle approval as the music that Emilia brought in for the audition began. Tess was the one who started the song:

“I’ll sing it one last time for you  
Then we really have to go  
You’ve been the only thing that’s right  
In all I’ve done”

When it was Emilia’s turn to sing her solo, her heart was pounding even louder. She was sure that if she held the microphone to her chest, her heartbeat would be evident through the speakers.

“And I can barely look at you  
But every single time I do  
I know we’ll make it anywhere  
Away from here”

They all spread out on the stage as they moved to the chorus. Emilia was on the left side bursting her voice. Glancing over to her friends, she soon felt belittled. Sure, the Tess and Austyn were nervous, but they looked completely natural. They seemed unfazed by the crowd and the judging eyes. She envied their complacent demeanors.

“Light up, light up  
As if you have choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I’ll be right beside you dear

Louder louder  
And we'll run for our lives  
I can hardly speak I understand  
Why you can't raise your voice to say”

And the judging eyes, Emilia inwardly groaned. She feared them and avoided their gazes. If she made eye contact with any one of them, she was sure she’d crack. It was fear of hers, a great fear, that she’d mess up and the crowd would boo and then the judges would stop them in the middle of their song, giving them negative comments and it would all be her fault.

“Slower slower  
We don't have time for that  
All I want's to find an easy way  
To get out of our little heads

Have heart, my dear  
We're bound to be afraid  
Even if it's just for a few days  
Making up for all this mess

Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear”

She shook her head of the horrible thought and continued to perform alongside her friends, glad that the song was coming to a close. When it finally did, Emilia took a deep breath of relief. She became overwhelmed with the loud cheering/applause coming from the crowd. Careful not to trip, she walked to the center of the stage, regrouping with her friends. Austyn was already there, then Tess, then Emilia. On the walk there, Emilia kept her eyes glued to the floor, waiting until she was with her friends to look at the judges.  
Finally having the support of her friends standing beside her, Emilia looked up, the expressions on the judges’ faces shocking her and domino-ing a huge grin on her face.  
All the judges held impressed smiled on their faces, making the three girls hop in their place. Once the crowd had settled, the first to speak was Britney. “Wow. I am in awe. All three of you have such amazing voices.” The crowd cheered at this and the judges nodded in agreement.  
“Tremendous,” Simon said, making Emilia blink in disbelief as well as feel a bit woozy. “You girls are greatly talented and absolutely have the X Factor.” At this, Tess, Austyn, and Emilia were in shock. “I really think the world is ready for the arrival of Wild Siren.”

When the three of them walked to the backstage area, they were greeted with congratulations as they walked. They reached an area alone and they all turned to each other, wide eyed. Their silence was broken when Tess obviously said, “We got four yeses.”  
They all squealed and moved to hug each other. When they pulled away, they each had huge grins on their faces.  
“We made it though. They liked us,” Emilia affirmed with a shake of her head.  
Laughing in disbelief, they hugged again. “We’re going to be famous!”  
Emilia giggled and squeezed her friends’ hands. “I have to call my dad. He’s going to flip out.”  
After retrieving her phone, she dialed her father’s number and waited for his answer. She knew he’d be completely astonished as she is. It’s all really happening. From the formation of their band, she never really had faith that they’d make it big. That they’d just stay performing in local venues and recording at home, but they just received the most surreal moment that finally gave her confidence. Finally she could see it. With her best friends by her side, they are going to win this thing, become famous and maybe, possibly find new and grander opportunities. Their lives are set in motion now.


	2. No Greater Thrill

Tess, Austyn, and I went through hell and back during boot camp. There were moments that were so completely fun and exhilarating, but then someone would go on stage, shocking everyone and me, wiping our grins off our faces. There was so much good talent that I began to doubt how good we were, but when Tess and Austyn saw my faith fleeting, their words of wisdom brought me back up. Or rather their demand that I get my shit together before we get on stage. And I’m definitely grateful, because if they hadn’t and I went on stage a nervous wreck, we would have probably gone home.  
At the end of all the drama, tears, and sweat, though, Wild Siren made it to Judges’ House. It was a surreal moment for everyone who made it through. And everyone who went home, either left angry and revengeful or in tears. Tess, Austyn, and I watched as every person left and it just sent us into states of remorse.

The water rushed behind the boat as the mass of X Factor Group contestants made our way to our mentor’s house. Many of them were conversing about who our mentor might be. All the while, I didn’t really take part in it. I did wonder who would be the person to help me and my best friends make it to stardom, but I really didn’t like being a large conversation. I liked being a wallflower. I much liked to be unsociable and keep to myself, which Tess and Austyn really didn’t understand.  
Tess and Austyn were conversation people and the sociable people. Every day, I wondered why we became friends and more important, how. But we are and they’ve grown on me. (Not in a weird way.)  
I noticed a quiet boy hanging around the side of the boat, looking out. I remembered him from the band, Porters. They are a group that was eliminated in a previous season and came back. The judges mentioned it during boot camp and then I finally remembered them. They’re three brothers, the Porters, and a very close friend, whom I’m assuming joined after the band name was decided. I watched them in their season and they did really good. And in their return to this season, even better. They were one of the groups that scared me during boot camp because they were amazing.  
Not wanting the guy to feel left out, I stood from her spot and walked to him. He noticed me straightaway and smiled.  
“Hey.”  
“Hey.”  
“It’s just getting pretty loud over there and I saw you here alone. You’re Jack, right?”  
He nodded, “Yeah.” His arms were hanging over the edges of the boat, and looked sideways to talk to me. “I’m sorry; I don’t remember your name.”  
I looked down before meeting his eyes again. “Oh, it’s Emilia.”  
“Right,” he smiled.  
We continued to make conversation on their way to the house, and although I was slightly let down by Jack not knowing me, he was a good person to talk to. Of course, I could have guessed that he wouldn’t memorize me like I did him, but it seemed to happen a lot, and that just reminded me of it. Unlike my friends, I wasn’t really a face people remembered.  
We finally made it to the very big, extravagant, grandiose house. I took a deep breath to take it in. It wasn’t bigger than the X Factor house, but it looked very expensive and cutting edge. I definitely have my money on the bet that Simon is our mentor.  
All the us were led to a patio and were instructed to stay there until the mentor comes to surprise them. The groups were all together as the camera panned on us to catch our reactions.  
Finally, the sliding door to the house opened slowly, revealing that I was right: Simon Cowell. I inwardly high-fived myself. Everyone cheered as he continued walking to them, smiling. He was in yet another V-neck, I noticed, and sunglasses to reduce the intense sunlight.  
“Good morning, everyone.” He continued on with his spiel about being glad to mentor the groups: that he’s had great success with groups (although none of his groups actually won X Factor). His groups have wonderful careers and are greatly famous. And then he decided to get the groups riled up and draw out the reveal of the celebrity guest judge. "So to help me figure out who is to move on my final four, I am bringing in a special guest.” He clapped his hands together, “Or should I say guests. They soared to #1 quickly after their first single and are very much successful and working on their senior album. Let me introduce… One Direction."  
Everyone jumped up in spots. The girls, and I dread to admit this, but myself included, started squealing and putting their hands to their mouths to stifle their screams. The guys, surprisingly, didn’t roll their eyes or act indifferently like most guys I knew did when One Direction was mentioned, which actually was a lot. Tess and Austyn were fanatics. (Not that I wasn’t either. I’m just not a ginormous fanatic about One Direction.)  
One by one, though, the boys of the band started to out the same door Simon came out of. I stood next to my flustered friends, biting my lip, to keep from smiling like an idiot.  
All the boys were dressed handsomely, like always, and perfect for summer. They walked to Simon, each shaking his hand, and then stood in a line, facing the groups. I noticed without delay Louis, who was in his signature striped shirt, and shorts. Out of the five of the boys, I definitely favored him the most. He was sporting a “quiff,” that I had noticed he’s been sporting for the past two years or so.  
“Hello!” Harry exclaimed, his hands held together in front of him.  
“Hello,” Liam smiled. “We’re so excited to be here today. And we can’t wait to watch you guys perform.” He continued to say basically the same things Simon did and everyone, mostly the girls, were enraptured by his every word. I chuckled glancing at Tess and Austyn’s awestruck expressions.  
As Liam continued his speech, my eyes roamed along the line of men in front of me. They finally stopped at Louis. His eyes squinted looking over to Liam, the corners of his lips tugged upward. My gaze was on him for four seconds at the most when he averted his gaze from his band mate to look right into my eyes. I gasped very lightly before tearing my stare from him to Liam. My heart leaped at that moment.  
Still, as I avoided his gaze, I felt his eyes on me. It added to heat that the sun’s beams were shining on me, making blood rush to my cheeks. A tickling feeling spread to my stomach as the clichéd butterflies decided to take residence. I bit my lip and slowly turned my head to look back at him. His head was still turned to me and our eyes met. His smile was wider and it made my lips curl upward.  
Simon talking brought me out of my reverie and broke my stare from him. “So you guys can head inside and prep before we bring out the first group.”

Everyone headed inside and was led to a private section within the house to rehearse their numbers. Tess, Austyn, and I, rather than rehearsing, sat on the leather couch and talked about our guest judges. I, like always, was in the conversation, but barely got a word in. Tess and Austyn chattered about how cute the five of the boys were, while I just smiled at how ridiculous and obsessed they sounded. But it really wasn’t a difference from when they gawked about guys at their school. So I guess it was kind of normal. For them.  
“Hey, I’m going to find a bathroom,” I said, standing from my spot and went in search for a restroom. With the overwhelming feeling that went with performing, I just needed quiet to console my nerves.  
Finding a restroom in the huge house was somewhat difficult but not impossible, though I really wasn’t trying. The house was beautiful and I got to think. The fact that I’m here in Simon Cowell’s house about to perform in front of him and five of some of the most famous people in pop culture is unbelievable. I just used to be a bassist for our band and when I started singing, people actually didn’t hate my voice like I thought they would.  
I stopped in my tracks when I heard a sink running through the door next to me. I leaned against the opposite wall, waiting for the occupier to be finished. I closed my eyes as I waited with my hands behind my back. The sound of the door opening pried my eyelids apart and I pushed myself off the wall. I let out a light gasp when my eyes met sparkling blue ones.  
Louis Tomlinson stood in front of me and he smiled just like he did when he looked at me when we were outside. His hair looked fluffier up close and his teeth whiter. “Hi.” His voice was so smooth, but I refused to be a swooning fangirl.  
“Hi.” I bit her lip, avoiding his stare yet again.  
Taking a step forward, his arms at his side, he said, “You— Err, I’m Louis.”  
I chuckled at his obvious statement, blushing. “Um,” I smiled, looking up at him. “I know. I’m Emilia.”  
Louis groaned with a stupid, shamed smile and slapped his palm to his forehead. When he looked back up, he muttered quietly, “I’m an idiot.” He chuckled. “Of course you know who I am. I’m bloody Louis Tomlinson.”  
As he smiled embarrassingly, I couldn’t help but giggle. He began to laugh as well. When we settled down, we continued to stay in our places, saying not a word. There were things about him that I’d never noticed in pictures. His face was charming and heartier, his eyes shined so bright, and his stubble was completely sexier in person.  
“Um—”  
He was interrupted by a staff member walking into the hall. “Mr. Tomlinson, we need you in the patio. The first performer is about to go on.”  
Hesitantly, he looked to the woman and nodded. “Be right there.”  
“Okay.” She looked to me when I brought my eyes up from looking at my shoes. “And Miss Rosen, you’re on in 10 minutes. I just told Tess and Austyn.”  
I nodded, “Okay, thank you.”  
The staff member nodded and left behind the wall.  
I turned back to Louis who was looking down, his hands dug into his pockets. Slowly and way attractively, he lifted his head up, his eyes hooded as he did so. Blue met brown, but there was a tiny hint of sadness held within his irises.  
“I’ve got to go.”  
Soundlessly, I nodded and watched as he turned to leave. I walked into the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror before going back to my friends.

We stood by the floor-to-ceiling glass door, looking out to the patio as the Porters performed “Hey There Delilah.” They were good, I couldn’t deny that. They definitely were comfortable performing in front of Simon and One Direction. I watched as Jack sang along with his brothers, Kurt and David, and their friend, Devin. Jack didn’t sing as much as Kurt did, who was the lead singer in their group, but he wasn’t secluded to just one line.  
When the boys were finished with their song, they stood silently as Simon simply nodded his head and uttered a small ‘Thanks.’ They walked briskly back inside, passing us as they made their way to their assigned area.  
I took a deep breath, feeling the same way she did during auditions and boot camp. No matter how many times I perform in front of judging eyes or how many times Tess and Austyn console, I will get nervous and scared. My heart will pound and my blood will rush. And now there’s more pressure. Now, Simon is picking his final four groups to go with him to the live shows. Now, we’re performing in front of One Direction. And now, Louis Tomlinson is going to be looking at me sing after I’m pretty sure what we had in the hall several minutes ago is what Tess would call, oh so dramatically, ‘A Moment.’  
The staff member, who was the same person who interrupted Louis and me, told us to walk out to the patio. It was quiet as we walked and the only sound coming from the tapping from our shoes. I had Tess and Austyn on my sides and I was in the middle.  
“Hello girls. Boys, this is Wild Siren. Tess, Emilia, and Austyn,” Simon introduced us.  
I smiled shyly, looking up to scan the expressions on all the boys. Niall, Liam, and Zayn were all smiling courteously, and nodded a silent salutation. Harry, though, was smiling uneasily and looking directly at me. His eyes didn’t match his smile. They were curious, almost like he was judging me. My shoulders slumped. Then I looked to Louis who was at the end. He was looking right at me, as well. Smiling sweetly, attractively. Blushing, I averted my gaze. I will not let my nervousness for a member of a boy band who I will probably never see again screw this performance up for me and my friends.  
“So what are you girls singing for us today?”  
“Valerie, Amy Winehouse’s version,” Tess said.  
Simon nodded and motioned for us to start.  
The upbeat music came from the speakers and I nodded my along with it. The intro drew on until Austyn began singing.

Well sometimes I go out by myself  
And I look across the water  
And I think of all the things, what you're doing  
And in my head I paint a picture

Since I've come on home,  
Well my body's been a mess  
And I've missed your ginger hair  
And the way you like to dress  
Won't you come on over  
Stop making a fool out of me  
Why don't you come on over Valerie?

The three of us walked around the cleared area, dancing as well, having fun, and taking advice that Simon had given us earlier: to let loose and have fun.

Valerie  
Valerie  
Valerie

Did you have to go to jail,  
Put your house on up for sale, did you get a good lawyer?  
I hope you didn't catch a tan,  
I hope you'll find the right man who'll fix it for ya  
Are you shopping anywhere,  
Changed the color of your hair, are you busy?  
And did you have to pay that fine  
That you were dodging all the time, are you still busy

Since I've come on home,  
Well my body's been a mess  
And I've missed your ginger hair  
And the way you like to dress  
Won't you come on over  
Stop making a fool out of me  
Why don't you come on over Valerie?

Valerie  
Valerie  
Valerie  
Valerie  
Valerie  
Valerie

Why don't you come over Valerie?

When the song finally finished, I was relieved as well as upset. Performing is nerve-wrecking, but once I get into it, being with my best friends, it does become gratifying. I was relieved that we finished, because, even though it is fun, the judgy eyes kept meeting mine, adding on the heat that was already on me because of the beaming sun. The eyes that I was mostly scared to meet mine were Louis’, and I thankfully avoided. I’m pretty sure that if I looked to him during my solo, I would mess up. I was already sweaty-palmed from just feeling his eyes on me.  
Simon dismissed us and we walked back inside, passing by the group that was next up, Lost Fictional. Back at our assigned section in the house, Tess and Austyn didn’t even sit down, as I did, to settle down. They couldn’t; they were still too hyped with adrenaline. My heart was still beating through my chest even as I tried to slow it.  
“That was so scary. Oh, my god. I thought I was going to fall down from the nerves.”  
I stood to join them. I breathed out a smile, “I know. I still feel lightheaded. We did good though, right?”  
“We did amazing. No doubt about it,” Tess said, being optimistic as ever.  
I nodded brushing away any doubt, more for my benefit than Tess and Austyn’s assurance. “Okay.” But still, my inner worrier was still living up to her title, worrying. “Okay,” I repeated.  
Tess rolled her eyes and grabbed my forearms. “Stop worrying. We did great. And soon enough, we’ll know if we make it. And I’m pretty sure we did.”


	3. Okay

I became very anxious as the last two groups performed and we were secluded to the den. It wasn’t until half an hour after we performed that Simon was ready to tell which groups have made it into his final four. All of the groups were gathered in the patio as Simon had left to move somewhere more private.  
Tess and Austyn were grasping my hands. The Porters sat in front of us talking casually but it was evident that they were also nervous about what’s coming up next. They never made it past this point. When they made it to Judges’ House before, they were sent home.  
Beside The Porters, were the Kazzers. One of the girls, Diana, was looking to us and giving us the stink eye. It was such a cold look that just the feel of her gaze was giving me chills. It was best to ignore her. Being judged is not good for me. I’m a worrier. That’s why I was a bit hesitant to try out for the X Factor.  
It was finally time for the first group, LanaJae, to go to where Simon is. They walked there slowly until they disappeared behind a tall hedge. I took a deep breath, calming myself.  
It went like that until we were finally called up. Tess and Austyn were still on either side of me as we followed the X Factor staff member. He led us to another small patio-den area. Simon sat in a wicker chair, made colorful by bright pillows.  
It was shaded in the area so he has taken off his sunglasses. The good thing about that is that without his glasses, I could read his expression in his eyes. The bad thing was that he wasn’t showing any expression. I didn’t have a clue if what he was about to say to us was good news or bad news. Completely resolute.  
The three of us sat down the matching wicker couch. We let go of each other’s hands to sit down, but once settled, my hand was grasped again by Austyn’s shaky fingers.  
Silence fell before Simon finally spoke, “Today, I saw each group improve so much. It’s always hard sending away groups home, especially when I think every one of you guys really can exceed. You three, in particular, exceeded so much that you are in my top four.”  
My breath was taken in sharply and I smiled wide. We made it through. Tess shrieked happily and surprised. When I looked to my best friends, their teeth were bright and eyes were wide.  
“This means that you are going to be in the live shows starting in two weeks. I was truly impressed by your performance, as were the boys of One Direction, and we really hope to get you on top. We really believe in you three and I am excited to work you so we could win this.”  
“Thank you so much,” I say.  
Simon smiles proudly, “You’re welcome, girls. See you soon.”  
After a couple more rushed “Thank You’s” from the three of us, we were led to another seating area inside (Geesh! How many sitting areas does Simon need?) where we saw Jack, Kurt, David, and Devin. When they saw us, they stood us and smiled proudly.  
“You made it through!” Kurt exclaimed, hugging each of us. Jack, David, and Devin hugged us as well and we sat down in a circle. We all talked about our worries when we talked to Simon and when we came to the realization that LanaJae were to go home, we all became quite silent. They were a duo and they actually really good; it’s going to be sad to see them leave. I talked to them sometimes and we had a couple things in common. Much like when the people from boot camp left, I felt the grief of them leaving.  
Our stillness was broken when Lost Fictional walked through the doors, happily. Same as the Porters, we all stood up to embrace them.  
Soon, I became jaded with the group talk so I excused myself to look around the house. There was no staff to supervise us so I snuck away in hopes that no one will find me.  
The house seemed so much bigger on the inside. I really don’t understand why one man needs this much space. I really liked how spacious the house was. As I was walking around, it was nice. There was no destination, so I just walked and thought. The thought that this was creepy came to mind, walking around someone else’s house, but no doors were open, so it wasn’t like I was invading any personal stuff.  
I was looking up at the tall cathedral ceiling when I bumped into a hard figure. I gasped at the hit and when I saw who I ran into. Louis. He was bewildered, so I guessed he didn’t expect to see me.  
His look of surprise turned into a bright look with a smile. “Hi.”  
Blood rushed to my cheeks just from the one syllable. I scolded myself. “Hi.”  
I teeter-tottered from heel to toe nervously as I chewed on my bottom lip. “Uhm, congratulations. The boys and I really liked you… You’re band, I mean.”  
“Thank you. Yeah, we’re ecstatic.” I smiled, looking up to him. He was tall. And way taller than me because I’m so short, I had to crane my neck.  
“We really hope to see more of you.” He half-smiled. “I— err, I mean, we hope to hear more from Wild Siren.”  
“Well, I hope you do, too.”  
We stand in silence that is not as awkward as most silences involving me. It was a nice silence and I became acquainted with the blue depths of his eyes as his met mine.  
He was the one to break the silence. “Are you… uhm— doing anything tonight?”  
What? Did I hear him right? My eyes widened. “N-no. Why?”  
He brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck and his eyes closed letting his brown eyelashes touch his cheeks. He opened them again. “If you… wanted to celebrate making it to the live shows… the boys and I are going to a pub near the city. You, as well as your friends, could join if you like.”  
I still stared wide-eyed at him, but I noticed that my wide-eyed-ness might be creepy so I closed them for a long second and looked back at him. “You’re, inviting us to hang out with you guys at a pub?”  
His cheeks pinked. “Yeah.”  
I raised my eyebrows. “Uhm, That’d be… nice. If my friends are up for it, you can expect us there.”  
“Really?”  
I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “Yeah.”  
“Okay.”  
“Okay.”  
We stood in the comfortable silence again. And then he chuckled. He gave me the name of the pub and time they’ll be there. I locked it into my head. I looked down at my feet, smiling. I noticed the space between our feet. I looked up and I noticed the distance amongst us, less than a foot.  
I put more distance between us when I heard a deep raspy voice coming from behind Louis. Harry. “Lou. We’re leading out soon. What are you doing?” Finally, he sees me a makes a soft cough. His hair is fluffier up close. “Oh, sorry… Did I interrupt?”  
Louis and I looked to each other at the same time, I stifle a chuckle, he smiles lightly at me, and we look back to Harry. “It’s… fine,” says Louis. “I better go,” he says to me. He moves to stand next to Harry. “Hopefully, I’ll see you later?”  
I nod. “Yeah.” There’s a moment when I think he’s going to step closer to me. I don’t know if it would be for a hug or what, but he glances towards Harry and then to the floor and when he looks back at me, his expression changed to something undecipherable. “I better go, too,” I point to the direction I came from.  
“Okay,” Louis smiles. “Us, too.”  
“Okay.”  
But we don’t move.  
“Okay!” Harry exclaims, moving in between us, breaking mine and Louis’ trance. Was it a trance? It sure felt like one. “We have to go.” He grabs onto Louis’ shoulder, with a smug, yet annoyed, grin.  
“Bye, Emilia,” says Louis.  
“Bye.” I smile and turn to leave.

Tess, Austyn, and I take refuge in our room to avoid the despondent contestants that had to leave. Well, mostly despondent. We received angry glares from Diana and Sara from Kazzers. So, in our room, Austyn sat at the make-up table/desk, painting her toenails, while Tess read a magazine on the divan, and I sat on my bed with my music book. I haven’t really put ink to paper though because I have yet to tell my friends of the invitation I got from Louis.  
I huff and look to my hand to see that it’s tapping the paper rather loudly, so I force it to stop. “Guys.” Tess and Austyn look to me, stopping what they’re doing. “Do… you guys feel like celebrating? I heard about this pub and we could use a night out.”  
They look to each other, then at me, bringing me back to when Louis and I did that, and I smile inside.  
“Okay,” they say almost simultaneously.  
I beam, sitting up straighter. “Awesome. So, we’ll go,” I draw out, “at 8?”  
They nod. “So, where is this place?” Austyn asks.  
“Just near the city.”  
“That’s cool. Where did you hear about it?”  
I got nervous at this point. Why did they have to ask me that? I know that if I tell them now, they’ll pester me with questions that I don’t really want to answer because I’m not exactly sure what the answer to some of their possible questions might be. And if I lie to them and they see that Louis and the band are there, they’ll be mad at me and/or be super fangirl-y.  
I’ll just… have to tell them.“Uhh… Louis.”  
Their eyebrows lift up at the same time in a sort of comical way. “Louis… who?”  
I bet if I hadn’t been so hesitant and weird when saying his name, they would’ve passed it off. Like, “Oh, Emmy has a friend named Louis. Whatever!” But, it’s probably for the best, so they won’t be mad at me later.  
“Louis Tomlinson.” Their jaws drop, as expected. “I bumped into him at Simon’s house. Literally. And we started talking, well, kind of talking,” I pause, thinking about our silences. I shake my head. “And he congratulated us and asked if we wanted to celebrate by meeting him and the boys at the pub.” I take a deep breath.  
I bring my head up to look at my friends. Their jaws have been lifted back up.  
“Say something.” I gulp.  
“We’re going to a pub with One Direction?” Asks Tess.  
I nod slowly.  
From their spots, they jump with squeals, almost ear deafening squeals. I cover my ears. Once they’ve calmed down, I bring my hands down.  
“So,” I breathe out, “We’ll go after supper?”  
The two of them scoff with wide-eyed glares. “Don’t downplay this situation,” Tess accuses me with a pointed finger. “One of the members of one of the most famous bands asked you out.”  
“He didn’t ask me out!” I give them a seriously annoyed look. “He invited us to celebrate our moving up to the live shows with his friends and him.”  
“But isn’t it so much better to say that he asked you out?”  
“But he didn’t.”  
Tess waggled her pointer finger at me. “You know, I saw him looking at you. Several times. He is so into you.” She grinned wickedly, and since I know her so well, I know something inappropriate is soon to come. “And he so wants to be into you.” There it is.  
Austyn laughs.  
“Shut up. He does not. I’m…” The words don’t come. “He’s not into me.” That’d be ridiculous. Right?  
“Then explain him asking you, a competition contestant, to meet him at a bar with his also extremely famous, hot friends.”  
I become lost with words. “He,” I gulp, “thinks Wild Siren is really good and wants to congratulate us.”  
They look at me with irritated faces. Austyn asks, “Seriously?”  
“Yes.” I sit firmly, my jaw tightened.  
Tess and Austyn lose their displeased faces and shrug. “Okay. We are going to the pub at 8 after dinner with Louis Tomlinson and the rest of One Direction, because apparently he just wants to congratulate us with our not being sent home and not because he has the hots for Emmy,” Austyn says sarcastically.  
“Sounds great!” Tess smiles.  
I roll my eyes, shake my head, and turn back to the blank page of my notebook. I exhale deeply and start writing.


	4. The Night Can Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like and I made outfits for this chapter and they are on craccola.polyvore.com

After my friends had commandeered my outfit for tonight, I was stuck wearing a white lace dress and black Mary Janes. It’s better than the dress they originally wanted for me which showed off too much skin with it being backless. This was… subtle and pretty.  
Now, I’m waiting for Tess, ever the indecisive dresser, to finish getting ready in the foyer, while Austyn is waiting by getting a snack in the kitchen.  
As time moves forward, I notice how anxious I’m getting. My heart starts to beat faster whenever a certain… someone comes to mind that I have to calm myself down with slow breaths.  
Thankfully, a low voice comes from behind me. “Emilia?”  
Jack. Good, he can distract me.  
“Hi, Jack.”  
He sits down on the seat next to me. “You look,” he pauses to scan me—I chuckle, “great. Where are you going?”  
I say, “This pub I heard of. Tess, Austyn, and I wanted to celebrate.”  
He presses his lips together. “Oh, well, get drunk for me.” He smiles, sweetly.  
I laugh, “Sure thing,” and I give him a salute.  
“Just make sure not to get too drunk. We’re not exactly allowed to appear intoxicated in the house,” he warns.  
I scoff, feigning hurt, “We know. We do still go to college, with a very strict dorm advisor, if I might add. And I can handle my liquor or at the very least disguise it very well.”  
“You can, can you?” He laughs. “I’ll just have to witness that myself.”  
“Don’t worry. We’re both going to be in this competition for a while so there will be plenty of time for us to drink.”  
“Hey, don’t jinx us,” he jokes, leaning in touch my leg. He pulls away immediately, but I just look to where his fingers previously were.  
We don’t talk and it’s silent and awkward until Tess comes down the stairs in a light green and black romper, “Ready to go!”  
“Great,” I force a smile and stand up. “Austyn’s in the kitchen. I’ll get her.” I leave nodding to Jack and when I look to Tess; her face is oblivious to what just happened. Good.  
I find Austyn with her hand in a box of cookies, talking to Amanda. “Aus, let’s go.”  
“Alright,” she finishes with her cookie and we both bid Amanda an adieu before heading back to the foyer where Tess stands with car keys in her hands, and Jack elsewhere. She hands the keys to Austyn and we leave to the car.  
The car is provided by the X Factor and it has the evident scent of new car. On the way to the pub, Austyn drove, Tess sat shotgun, and I sat in the back. Tess turned down the radio so she could talk incessantly about Louis and ‘What-ifs.’ “What if he asks you out on a date? What if he fell in love with you at first sight? What if he wants to run away with you?”  
Ugh. It’s so annoying. I’ve always hated ‘What-ifs’ even if they do constantly pop up in my head. It’s just a terrible beginning of a sentence. Whenever I hear it and the end of the statement is something I dearly want, and I’m not saying that what Tess is saying is what I want, I know it’s just fairy tale. There’s a slim,slim chance it will happen.  
And I’m brought back to Louis. I really haven’t a clue why he would ask me to the pub. And yes, I know he asked me and he only asked to bring along my friends because he didn’t want to seem weird. That part was evident. But… why would he ask me? What’s the appeal?  
My thoughts are cut off by us arriving at the pub.  
“One Direction time,” Austyn sings while parallel parking. There are barely any cars in front of the place, so obviously that means no fans.  
When we make it inside, it’s not hard to find the band. They had just burst out in laughter when we walked through the door.  
Louis sees me immediately, and it felt like my heart stopped for a second when he spread his lips into a smile, in turn making me smile before I could help myself. He waved his arm, beckoning us to come to his table. I gulp and start to make my way, slowly, to his table, my eyes on him, like they’re drawing me in.  
I can’t tell if my friends are following, but what else are they going to do when a famous pop boy band is in the vicinity.  
Before I make it to the table, Louis stands up to meet me a few feet from his friends. He’s wearing the same clothes from before at the house, a black T-shirt and light denim jeans. My eyes trace down to his forearm where a clutter of tattoos has been inked and I bite my bottom lip.  
We stand less than a foot away from each other and I tilt my head up despite my heels. “Hi.”  
“Hi,” he says. He rubs the back of his neck, smiling down at me. His eyes drift beside me and I’m reminded of Tess and Austyn.  
I turn to look at them. They stand side-to-side, Tess in her romper and Austyn in black skinnies and a white graphic tee, overly excited and smiling like idiots as they wave to Louis, giving small “hellos.”  
When I revert back to Louis, he’s looking at me. “Let’s me introduce you to the guys.” He goes to lead us to the table, where all the guys, six, I count and recognize, are. In his guidance, I feel his hand touch my side and skin touches my skin through the cutouts of my dress. I shiver and stand straighter, and then he quickly retracts his hand bringing it behind him.  
We arrive at the table, in front of the group of illustrious musicians, all looking at us, me most of all. I recognize them off the bat, but Louis introduces them anyway. “Girls, this is Harry, Ed, Niall, Liam, Zayn, and Josh. Boys, this is Emilia—” He looks to me with an alarmed look, though he tries to hide it.  
“Austyn and Tess,” I say gesturing towards my friends.  
“Right,” Louis blushes and I make a quiet chuckle. I look to find a place to sit, since all the places in the booth are taken. I move to take a chair from a nearby table, but Louis gets to it before me and pushes it to the booth. I smile towards him, flattered. Josh hops from his seat and pulls two chairs to the table, being ever the gentleman, next to mine. As I sit down, Louis sits next to me as well as next to Harry. It doesn’t get to the awkward part as I assumed it would get, because Louis talks right when he’s settled, “You guys might remember them from the competition. The three of them are a trio and are competing in X Factor US. They just made it to the live shows so I invited them to celebrate.”  
They all nod, understandingly.  
Ed asked, “What’s your group’s name?”  
Tess, now composed and not so… fangirl-y, answered, smiling, “Uhm, we’re Wild Siren.” Even though she looks unruffled, I can tell it in the high octave in her voice that she’s hysterical inside. Maybe this was a bad idea. Especially with Ed here. I, too, am perturbed by this particular group of people. It’s like an unlikely dream, being here with them.  
“Where did the name come from?” Liam asks.  
I tangle my fingers together under the table and reply, “Well, we have this sort of fondness for mermaids, so when we were thinking of band names, I thought of Sirens, because they’re somewhat similar to mermaids, and since that was already a band, we thought of Wild Siren.”  
Again, they nod understandingly. A waitress comes by asking if she can fetch any drinks. I can tell by her demeanor that she’s nervous. In a circle, order our drinks, most getting beers. When she leaves, Liam starts a conversation about him and Danielle, his very serious, on-the-brink-of-fiancée girlfriend.  
During this conversation, I had zoned out, like I always seem to do, and I always feel bad. I look over to Louis; he’s turned looking straightforward, and I look down at my lap, automatically. The drinks come, and I immediately take a drink of my gin and tonic, getting rid of my dry throat.  
Tess and Austyn had taken part in conversation with the boys, and as always, I sit silently, kept to myself, chewing on my bottom lip.  
“Emmy.”  
I lift my head up at the sound of my name, and Austyn, Louis, and Harry are looking at me while everyone is in discussion. “What?”  
“You were stuck in your daydreams again,” Austyn chuckles.  
I rolled my eyes and blew out a breath with a half-smile. “So, what are we talking about?”  
“What we’re thinking about our next performance.”  
“Oh. Well, that’s a long ways away.”  
“Yeah, but at least you’ll have a while to get everything perfect if you start thinking early,” Harry chimes.  
I shrug, “Yeah, I guess.”  
“Yeah!” Austyn says. “So, what songs do you think we should do? Emmy and Tess always come up with the best songs. Actually, when we were a band and I played guitar and Em, bass, she wrote almost all of our songs,” she said, looking right to Louis and I widened my eyes at her blatancy.  
But, Louis looks to me with a small, astonished smile. “Really?”  
“Yeah,” I say quietly. I smile lightly back at him and we continue talking about possible songs, laughing whenever one of says an utterly hilarious songs. Then we started talking about some of our favorite cheesy/overplayed songs.  
I looked down to my drink to see that it’s empty and I announce, “I’m going to go to the bar and get a refill. Anyone want anything?”  
Those who heard me shook their head and when I looked to Louis, he was standing up. “I’ll go with you.”  
I nod once, and we make our way to the vacant bar. The bartender comes to us, taking our orders and I lean against the counter, my elbows on the top. I turn to Louis. He’s faced towards me, one elbow on the bar top and he’s leaning with his ankles crossed.  
I exhale deeply. “So…”  
“So… how are you enjoying tonight? With my friends and, you know.”  
“It’s fun. I’m glad I came.”  
His smile gets wider and I giggle lightly at how endearing it was. “Well, I’m glad you came and I’m glad you’re glad you came.”  
I laugh at his cheesiness. The bartender finishes with our drinks, him a scotch and soda and me a gin and tonic. I start for the booth, but he stops me and gestures to a small table that stood next to us. “Can we talk with just the two of us?”  
My heart starts beating faster but I nod a small ‘yes.’ He pulls a chair out for me and he sits in the chair adjacent. I take a sip from my glass and lick my lips before looking back to him, my eyes catching his baby blues. And I’m blown away at how deep I can look into them.  
I take sips of my drink and he drinks his, until I meet his eye and he breaks the quietude of our table. “So you three were an actual proper band before right? And you played bass?”  
“Yeah, we were, I did. I actually didn’t start singing until Tess and Austyn really wanted to be a girl group with just singing so we could go on X Factor.”  
“Well, you’re an amazing singer, like you’ve been doing it all your life.” I blush, looking down. “No, really, I was truly compelled. And you write your own songs. That’s quite brilliant.”  
Shaking my head, I look down at my drink. “It’s not that brilliant.”  
“Austyn says that you write really well, though. I’d like to hear them sometime.”  
“Well, maybe you will, if Wild Siren makes it big,” I say uneasily.  
He’s quiet and then, “I don’t doubt that you will. You were exceptional today and it’s just the beginning of the competition. You are fantastic and I truly believe that.” His voice became lower in the last part of his statement. I notice him leaning in closer and it’s like a magnetic pull and I’ll being dragged closer to him. Like his eyes are the blue-grey moon and they’re pulling me in.  
Suddenly, though, I pull back, slamming my back to the back of the chair, when loud laughs come from somewhere in the bar. I immediately look to the booth where my friends and the group of celebrities are in fact suppressing their laughs.  
The realization of what almost occurred here hits me like cannon ball when I look back to Louis and his expression has fallen and his eyes meet mine in a hooded manner. I’m at complete unease. Were we just about to—? No. No. I flush and stumble a bit as I try to stand fairly quickly. ”I, uh—I’m just going to—” I gulp. “I have to go.” I leave and head out the pub.  
It’s warm outside and the only lights are coming from the street lamps. No one’s around and I lean against the brick wall of the building.  
What just happened? Am I overreacting? It’s just… Louis Tomlinson and I almost kissed. Why is this affecting me so much and why did I leave so abruptly? It’s such a Me thing to do. I roll my eyes. When things get weird and uncomfortable, I look for a way out. That’s my problem. I can’t handle tough things and I know this but I can’t help myself from staying unchanged.  
The sound of a bell forces me off the wall and face whoever just walked out of the bar, even though I’m fairly certain I know who it is.  
Louis stands before more, a confused and distraught as ever look on his face. He takes a step closer to me as I stay stone still.  
“We almost just—”  
“I know.” Stating the obvious, much? I purse my lips. “I’m sorry. It just got… stuffy in there.”  
He looks to the ground very seriously as if he’s counting every imperfection on the pavement before he swiftly walks right up to me. There’s barely any room between us and my breath is taken away. He brings his curled knuckled under my chin, lifting my head to face his.  
“That’s not it, is it, though?” He looks at me with such intensity that I feel like I can just melt from it.  
Biting the inside of my mouth below my lower lip, I shake my head. “I just… I’m not the kind of person to dive into things. And that’s what that inside felt like. I was also embarrassed, for lack of a better word.”  
“Why?”  
“You,” I half-shout. “You’re this insanely famous musician and I feel very inconsequential in this… whatever this is.”  
“Inconsequential,” he chuckles. “You’re not.” He heaves a sigh and shifts his weight. “Listen, I know I only met you a few short hours ago, but I think you’re amazing.”  
I let out an inaudible gasp.  
“In a group of more than a dozen people, I saw you almost instantaneously and you took my breath away. You were looking at the ground, but I still saw your face and I couldn’t stop looking away. Then you were performing that song, which was perfectly chosen, because you were radiant.”  
I become very overwhelmed. The fact that someone thinks this about me astonishes me. “I—”  
Louis shook his head and placed his thumb on my lip to silence me. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed or whatever you are,” he chuckles as if it’s a ridiculous thing. “I’m going to be in town for a while and I really want to see you more and I want to get to know you, because from the moment I saw you… I can’t explain it, but I know for a fact it got stronger when I heard your voice.”  
My head spins.  
“And when I see your face, all I want to do is—”  
And we’re kissing. I’m in his arms and we’re kissing smoothly and fervently, like he’s convincing me even more with just his lips and the honey and alcohol taste of them is making me very agreeable. I couldn’t fathom how any of this was real. We’re slow and careful and vehement and I find myself shivering despite the warm summer air surrounding us.


	5. Right Here, Right Now

Louis’ arms wrapped around my waist as he gently pushed me against the brick wall. His lips tasted like scotch and honey and I made an involuntary moan. His hands were on my hips and the tips of his thumbs touched the skin that peeked from the cutouts of my dress. One hand moved up to tilt my head up, my lips part and he deepens the kiss. My arms that were at first paralyzed at my sides are now wrapped around his neck, my fingers tangled in his feather soft hair.  
I gasped for breath when Louis pulled away, but he then attached his lips to my neck and, taking his dear time, he moved slowly south. He’s sucking and nibbling and I feel myself losing sense as adrenaline and intoxication overpowers. I let out a mix of a giggle and a whimper when he lightly bites the hollow of my neck.  
I lift his head to look at me and he has a smug grin on his face then he crashes his lips back onto mine. His hands on my back pull me even closer to him, leaving no space at all as I arch my back. He groans when I bite his bottom lip and I smile into the kiss.  
There’s bells ringing and shoes clinking and Louis’ lips are gone from mine. I stand still for a just moment collecting my breath then turn to my side where I see Austyn. She had a deer-in-headlights look on her face as she looked from me to Louis. I looked to him and he had disheveled hair and faintly swollen lips. I could only imagine what I look like. I move my gaze from him to Austyn before he could look back at me.  
She bites back a smile. “I’m sorry. I’m interrupting something. I’ll just be inside.” As she walks back inside, she lets out an audible giggle.  
It takes me second to face Louis again, but when I do, he’s looking back at me with a breathless face. He smirks and walks to me, setting his hands on my hips. I had attempted to keep a straight face, but seeing his pink swollen lips from my lipstick caused me to laugh.  
“What?” He smiles.  
“Nothing,” I say as I wipe the lipstick that had been sloppily marked on his lips. I bring my hand down to cup his cheek as I look up to his eyes, smiling.  
“Emilia Rosen,” he says gently.  
“Yes?”  
He chuckles, grinning. “Go on a date with me?”  
The corners of my mouth fall to form a stiff straight line.  
“What?” This time he said it, it wasn’t the same as he before. I felt grief for being the reason for his sad voice and frown upon his face.  
“It’s just… Even if we do go out and it’s great, at the end of the day, you’re going to be one-fifth of One Direction from London and I’m just going to be a girl in a televised singing competition living in L.A.”  
“So what? I want to be with you. And even though I am in One Direction and I have to go back to London in a few weeks, we will figure it out. And you’re forgetting that I was on the same televised singing competition.”  
“But you and the other guys are hot. I’m—”  
“Beautiful.” I take a deep breath, trying to steel myself to speak again, but he continues, “You’re beautiful and I know that you’re afraid of paparazzi and the tabloids and fans. I am too.” He clenches his teeth and squeezes his eyes. I tilt my head in slight confusion. “God, I am too.” He opens his eye again, looking right into mine. “But I just want to be with you. Right here and right now. Because you are beautiful and amazing and I feel like I can’t go on without knowing more about you.”  
With every word I felt my heart melting. His eyes were a shining baby blue and I could not look away. I was nodding my head and he smiled brightly. “Okay.”  
“Okay?” He said with a smirk.  
“Okay,” I laughed, shoving him lightly. My laughing ceases when a thought comes to mind and I furrow my eyebrows.  
He sees my look and he drops his head back with a groan of frustration, rolling his eyes. “Oh, what is it now?” He looks back to me with an annoyed face but he’s still smiling.  
Sighing, I say, “I’m on a competition show. There will be rehearsals and shows. I can’t date. I’ll be too busy.”  
“Okay,” he places his hands on my cheeks, “Emilia, I was on this show. I know that the schedules are strict but there is a lot of free time. You are not rehearsing every night; you don’t have shows every night. Stop worrying. We can date and be together. We have now.”  
I laugh mostly to myself. “I’m a worrier. It’s my nature. I’m sorry.” I take a deep breath then look back to him. “Okay. Let’s do this.”  
He tilts head back, smiling, and lets out a low and quiet, “Yes,” and I smile. He strokes my cheek once with his thumb.  
I put a hand on his. “We should probably get inside.”  
“Okay,” he says still smiling down at me, not moving.  
I laugh. “You’re just going to keep digging for the ‘Okay’ banter, aren’t you?”  
“Pretty much,” he laughs.  
I shake my head and take a bold move to grab the collar of his shirt to pull him down to kiss me. It’s slow and sweet and I smile against the kiss as I feel him do the same.

When we walk back into the pub, I feel and see the eyes on us. I look down, avoiding gazes as we walk back to the booth. I sit in my previous seat next to Austyn and Louis sits next to me. The table is silent until Louis asks a question.  
“So are they doing video diaries on the show this season?”  
Tess said, “Yes! They are. We are. We’re excited because in front of a camera, we are just random and crazy and it’s amazing.”  
I laugh a recall an old memory, “Oh god, remember when we were on that random chat site and we were just playing,” I pause, blushing, “we were playing you guys really loudly and we were dancing, well more like flailing, and wearing crazy masks.”  
We all laugh and Tess continues to tell another story about being in front of the camera. When I was in mid-laugh, I felt a hand grab mine. I looked over to Louis and he was looking back at me with a smile.

In the car on the way back to the house, I was only a bit buzzed, not enough to completely spill what Louis and I had talked about and done to Tess and Austyn’s never-ending inquiries. I sat back in my seat, satiated with tonight’s events. And I look forward for tomorrow.  
I will go into our first rehearsal for the live shows and anticipate a text from Louis. After I had announced that it was getting late and insisted that Tess, Austyn, and I should leave, he pulled me aside and we exchanged numbers. He promised he’s text or call to set a date and details for the date he promised and I can’t deny that I’m eager for him to contact me.  
“Emilia, stop ignoring us. What happened between you two?”  
I huff. “Can I tell you when you’re not driving? When we’re back at the house?” I asked annoyed as ever, but still smiling.  
I see Austyn roll her eyes in the rearview mirror and I imagine Tess doing the same. We ride the rest of the way, the only sounds aloud coming from the radio playing Maroon 5.  
Back at the house, in our expansive room, I sat in my bed and Tess and Austyn sat in chairs they had dragged in front of me.  
“Tell us now.”  
I sigh blissfully before telling them of the part of my night where they were not present. I told them of talking to him about our band, about my songwriting, the almost kiss and my stupid cowardice. I told them of how he thinks of me, but not in so much detail, our kiss, and his intentions to take me out on a date.  
“Wow. He is amazing. I’m so happy for you, Emmy,” says Tess.  
“Yeah. And it’s about time. I never thought you’d get a boyfriend with your quality of perpetual nerdyness and lack of sociability.”  
I kick her jokingly, “Thanks for your confidence in me.”  
“No problemo,” she smiles, walking to her bed, as well as Tess.  
I roll my eyes and get up from my bed to the makeup table to get ready to go to sleep.

 _Fire was blazing along the wall. Smoke filled the air making it harder for me to breathe. Hunching over and clenching my stomach, I called out for my mother over the flames. There was no response. The only thing I heard was the sound of my coughing and the crackling of the fire. The doorway was blocked so I had no way out._  
 _I was losing oxygen and I was sure I was going to die. I didn’t know where my mother was. I did know, though, that she was in the house. I thought back to where my father and sister should be; safe, getting dinner for the family. I crouched down on my knees staring at the flamed door, hoping for the fire to die out. If it didn’t and I couldn’t get out of this house, then I’d surely die._  
 _Again, I yelled out, “Mom!” in hopes that she’d somehow appear. Tears burned down my cheeks, hotter than the flames. Then I heard coughing behind me. I whipped my head behind me and saw my mother coming down the stairs. “Mommy!”_  
 _She was coughing and struggling to walk towards me. She was making her way to me slowly when I started to hear a crackling sound. My world fell down on me when the ceiling started to crumble down. I screamed out to warn my mom, but it was too late. By the time she heard my warning and her head went up, the ceiling fell on her._  
 _I cried out in agony and then the front door opened. As firefighters started to collect me, I tried to scream out to my mom, telling the firefighters to see if she’s still alive, even though it wasn’t likely. A familiar song started playing as I was being pulled away from the house spreading confusion within me. When I was brought out, I could breathe again. The music still played and I was still yelling out for my mother._  
I woke up with a loud gasp. I looked around as the light seeped through the windows blinding me. There’s sweat on my hairline and brow and a creep crawling up my back. I take deep breaths to calm down and I wipe the tears that have fallen to on my cheeks.  
Neither Tess nor Austyn are in the room. I realize now that my phone alarm is still on, playing Alex Clare, and has been going off intermittently for an hour since it now reads 10:30. I sigh in relief though because I haven’t missed one o’clock rehearsal.  
I’m started when the door opens and Tess and Austyn walk in, both holding clear mugs of coffee. Austyn is holding two and she hands one to me as she asks, “Are you okay?”  
I gulp, nodding. “Yeah.” I take a sip of the coffee.  
She sits down on my bed and both she and Tess look at me with concerning eyes.  
“Did you have the nightmare again?” Austyn asks the dreadful question to which the answer is always  
“Yes.”  
I look into my coffee gravely and my friends are doing the same when I look up. Despite the gloom, I paste on a smile and ask, “What’s for breakfast? I’m starving.”  
Like always, they forget what had just happened and continue on with normality. “Shiri made French toast.”  
“Okay. I’ll just get dressed and head down there.”  
In the kitchen, Shiri was talking to Andrew. Shiri was the house cook. She was French and has been working at the X Factor house since the US series started. And Andrew is the oldest of the Teens. He was talking to her about his parents coming to visit, but their conversation faded when I walked in.  
“Good morning,” I said.  
“Morning,” they replied and Shiri said, “I still have left over French toast. Are you hungry, Emilia?”  
“Starving,” I smile and she hands me a plate with toast all cinnamon-y and sugar-y. I sit down at the breakfast bar and she and Andrew continue their conversation. When I’m a few bites into my breakfast, the seat next to mine takes occupancy.  
The familiar voice of Jack comes before I look over to see his face. He’s smiling but there’s a look of hesitancy etched over him. “Hey, Emilia.”  
I smile with the incentive to placate him. “Hey.”  
“So how was last night? D’you get all liquored up?”  
I roll my eyes jokingly. “Only a little bit.”  
We’re silent and then, “About last night, I’m sorry if I made things weird or awkward.”  
Turning all the way to face him, I wet my lips and reply, “Look, we could just forget about it. It was awkward and weird but it was nothing. It’s fine,” I ramble, squeaking at the end and I scold myself.  
Jack’s eyebrows furrow and he drops his gaze before looking back to me. “Are you sure?”  
“Yeah. Yes. I make things awkward all the time and people let me off because it every time; it would be hypocritical of me to not, so we could just… forget it.”  
“Alright.”  
A moment later I smile supportively and took another bite of my French toast. I asked him about his rehearsal and he said that he had just come back from it. He said that it was short and simple and that they were just introduced to their choreographer and went through possible songs they could sing.  
Somehow what he told me assured me and calmed down potential nerves that could’ve taken control of my worrying mind. I am in a constant state of paranoia and I am always short of self-reliance.  
When I finished eating, Jack and I had finished our conversation, and I left to go to my room to see my Tess holding my phone.  
“What are you doing?”  
She holds out my phone. “Louis called. And then texted.” A pause. “And then we read the text.”  
I look at them accusingly. I sigh and grab the phone. On the screen, it shows that Louis called 20 minutes ago and texted just a few minutes ago. And because I have taken a semester of psychology, I can’t help but think that he called, didn’t want to seem too eager so he waited a while, then texted. It seems like such a boy thing to do.  
 _Call me when you can?(;_ the text read.  
I blushed at the winky face and let my thumb hover over the call button. I stop though when I look over to Tess and Austyn and they’re looking at me with amused faces.  
“Uhh—”  
“Oh, we’re sorry. Did you want privacy?”  
“Uh-huh,” I say obviously.  
“Oh, well, we’re sorry. We want to listen to this. So we’re staying here,” Tess says, rudely but appreciatively… if that’s possible.  
I huff. “Well, then. If you’re staying here, I guess I go out on the balcony.” I cross the distance of the room to get reach the attached balcony. I close the door behind me and see my friends’ offended faces. I stick my tongue out and turn around to face the openness.  
The summer wind was blowing my hair as I leaned against the railing. I clicked Louis’ number and held the phone to my ear.  
It rang three times before he answered in his normal happy, upbeat voice, “Hello.”  
“Hi. You called earlier. I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I—”  
“Don’t apologize it’s fine. I just wanted to ask you if you had plans for Thursday night.”  
“No, I don’t.”  
“So, if I asked you out on a date for Thursday, you’d say yes?”  
I chuckle. “Maybe.”  
“Maybe?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Well, I don’t want to ask if there’s a possibility I’ll get a no.”  
“Come on, you have to be confident. Confidence is very attractive on a man.”  
“But I’m already hot. You said so last night.”  
“Well, yeah,” I blush. “But it doesn’t hurt to be just a little bit hotter. Like so hot that you’re scalding.”  
I hear him laugh on the other side of the line. “Okay then.” A (fake) deep breath. “Emilia, will you go on a date with me on Thursday.”  
I make of noise of uncertainty and smile. “Yes.”  
He sighs in fake relief. “Thank god, because you scared the pants off me.”  
“Well, I’m glad I can keep you on your toes.”  
There’s a pause and it’s like I can feel him smile into the phone. “So, I’ll see you in three days.”  
I grin. “Okay.”  
He chuckles. “Okay.”  
“Bye.”  
“Bye.”  
There’s a long moment before we both hang up.


	6. I Don't Care

After my call with Emilia, I caught myself smiling in the mirror across the room. I sighed in content as the door opened and Harry walked in. He took a seat on a chair and looked up at me hesitantly.  
“What’s going on, Haz?”  
“I overheard your conversation with Emilia.”  
I blinked, confused. “What about it?”  
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”  
I clench my jaw and unclench to reply to him. “Of course.”  
“But what about—”  
“It doesn’t matter right now. I—”  
“No, Louis, it does matter. You two are getting close and she’s a great girl. I get why you like her so much. But news and rumors travel fast. It could get to her. Do you really want to put Emilia through that if it does?”  
“No, obviously not, but I’m not just going to end whatever might happen between us. Right now, I don’t care about her, or any of the fans. I want to be with Emilia.”  
“Lou, you’re being reckless. Don’t you remember what she did last time? When she saw you on that date with that Rebecca girl?” He yelled.  
And I yelled back, “Yes I remember! That’s the first thing I thought of when I met Emilia. I’m selfish though. I just… had to know her. I needed to know her.” My voice dropped. “And it’s been months—almost a year—since that incident happened.”  
“That was no incident, Lou. We were extremely lucky to have it out of the public.” Shaking his head, he stood up and started for the door. Before he was out, he said, “I just want you to be careful. Emilia’s great, like I said, but if you get serious with her or it gets out to the paps and all the fans, tell her. She deserves to know what she’s getting into, because if she’s clueless and something dangerous happens to her, it’ll be your fault.” He left closing the door behind her.

I was being driven to the address that Emilia sent to me where the X Factor house was. For security and because I can’t legally drive in the States, one of the band’s security guards, Pete, had to drive me and Emilia around tonight. It’s really times like this when I dearly wish that we weren’t that famous.  
We arrived in front of the house and I made my way to the front door. I checked myself before ringing the doorbell. Less than a minute later, Emilia opened the door. She was in a black dress with flowers, but the first thing I saw when she opened the door was her smile, shining brightly.  
“Hi.” She was biting her lip, blushing, most likely from the way I was looking at her.  
“Hello. You look great.”  
She looked down, smoothed the front of her dress, and then looked back to me. “Thanks. Ready to go?”  
“Yes.” I lead her into the car and Pete drove us away from the house.  
The ride was quiet and very much awkward due to a third party listening in. Next to me, Emilia exhaled. “So where are we going?”  
I give a tightened smile. “The hotel where I’m staying. Due to events in the past and the size of our fan base, I have to stay private, as much as I hate it and would love to actually take you out.”  
She chuckles. “It’s fine. I understand. Just being here on this date is great.”  
I nod and when we arrive at the hotel, we enter through a back parking area where another security man escorts us upstairs to my room. Thankfully when we go inside the guard goes to his own room across the hall.  
Looking to Emilia, she’s smiling when she sees what I’ve set on the coffee table in the living area.  
“I hope you don’t mind I ordered take out. I’m a hopeless cook and I thought we could just watch a film… and talk while we eat.”  
She nods, “Okay. That sounds nice.”  
We sit down on the couch and I set the telly to the film menu. “What film would you prefer?”  
She smiles brighter and sits up. “I get to pick?”  
“Nothing to fruity and girly,” I say narrowing my eyes.  
With a playfully sly expression, she takes the remote, “Don’t worry.” I chuckles as she starts scrolling through the films while I take two plates, set the food from boxes on mine and gave her plate for herself.  
When I turn back to the telly, I see that she has started to play Star Trek. We start watching and really watching but about twenty minutes in, the movie’s forgotten and we’re facing each other, talking about a mutual interest: music.  
“So who’s your favorite artist?” She asks me, setting down her empty plate on the table.  
“Definitely Robbie Williams.”  
“You know, I’ve heard of him, but I never listened.”  
“Oh, he’s terrific. You should listen to him sometime. What about you?”  
“Justin Timberlake. He is just perfection,” she smiles charmingly.  
“His last album was genius.”  
“Wasn’t it?” She yells. “When that album came out I listened to it on repeat for days.”  
I didn’t say anything after because she had a look on her face that looked like she was thinking about the album, basking in its perfection. She made a small smile and turned to me then smiled wider. Her smile was contagious; I felt the corners of my mouth lift up.  
“You and the other guys write your own songs, right?” I nod. “What lyrics could you call your own?”  
I chuckle and think about the few lines of brilliance I can brag about. I end up telling her, “‘I wanna be the first to take it all the way like this. And if you only knew. I wanna be last. Let me be your last first kiss. ’” I’m leaning in closer and I feel her doing the same. Her eyes are hooded as they drift from my eyes to my lips then back up.   
Just as we’re about to kiss, she breathes out a low chuckle and pulls back, looking down. I wet my lips, disappointed, and give her a small smile.  
“What about you? You write your own songs. Tell me some of your lyrics.”  
She chuckles, modestly. “Uh, I have to?”   
“Yes,” I say matter-of-factly. “I showed you mine, you show me yours. It’s only fair.”  
Emilia’s eyes widen just slightly as her mouth opens into a shocked smile. “Okay.” She blinks her eyes. Her lips scrunch together and move the side as she thinks and the expression is just adorable. “‘When I'm in the red, listening to strangers inside my head, the darkening angels beneath the bed I still see everything you said.’”   
Her voice drops low in the end. It’s like she’s reflecting on something in the past and I wonder where those lines emerged from. There’s a story behind it but the look on her face and how she is composing herself right now as if she didn’t just go into the state she was just in stops me asking about it.  
“That’s beautiful.”  
She makes a smile that I can just tell is fake and thanks me. “It’s from one of my older songs but I’m kind of proud of it.”  
Her eyes drift behind me where I know a piano stands and her mood changes entirely. She deflates though, embarrassingly. I could tell from the look she had in her eyes that she was drawn to the piano.  
“Do you think you can play me one of your songs? It doesn’t have to be the song where that lyric is from, but I’d love hear your music. And… I like hearing your voice.”  
She blushes and starts to shake her head. “I don’t think—”  
“Come on! I know you want to,” I smirk.  
She tries to keep a straight face but it starts to tear away and she grins. “Okay.” I gesture to the piano and follow her as she sits on the bench; I take the seat next to her. “An original, right?”  
“Yes and then in return, I’ll play you my favorite song.”  
“Really? Oh, a private concert from Louis Tomlinson from One Direction. I’m swooning.” She leans on me, feigning a swoon.   
I laugh and push her lightly for her sit up. “Okay, okay. I get that I’m hot and that you want to be on me, but get on with playing the song. We can do that stuff later.” I move my eyebrows suggestively.  
She rolls her eyes and shoves me with her shoulder. She strokes the keys of the piano, feeling the ivory before playing an upbeat tune. Her fingers go up and down on the keys merrily.  
“Cinderella's on her bedroom floor  
She's got a  
Crush on the guy at the liquor store  
Cause Mr. Charming don't come home anymore  
And she forgets why she came here  
Sleeping Beauty's in a foul mood  
For shame she says  
None for you dear prince, I'm tired today  
I'd rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming”  
I chuckled at her lyrics. She was laughing as she sung and her eyes sparkled with life.  
“'cause I don't care for your fairytales  
You're so worried about the maiden though you know  
She's only waiting on the next best thing

Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom  
Man made up a story said that I should believe him  
Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight  
But I don't want the next best thing  
So I sing and hold my head down and I break these walls round me  
Can't take no more of your fairytale love  
I don't care  
I don't care  
Worry bout the maiden though you know  
She's only waiting spent the whole life being graded on the sanctity of patience and a dumb  
Appreciation  
But the story needs some mending and a better happy ending  
Cause I don't want the next best thing  
No no I don't want the next best thing”  
It takes me a few seconds after the music has stopped to say something.   
“That’s amazing. Whimsical. I like it. How long ago did you write that?”  
She tilts her head, thinking, and lets out a high pitched “Uhhhh” until she finally says, “Sophomore year of high school.” She smiles proudly, showing off her white teeth and I notice that it’s mostly straight; only the tiniest gap between her two front teeth. It’s cute. “Your turn now. Play me your favorite song. Make me swoon,” she jokes.  
I laugh and think of the first notes of one my favorite songs. I steal a glance at Emilia smiling at me before playing.  
I've seen sad  
Dark times  
And I have waited for the sun to rise  
I've seen sad  
Dark times  
And waited for rain  
All I know is whenever I am far from home  
There are nights when words seem out of place  
I have walked alone and the stars have tried to guide me home

I have walked alone  
Lost in the fog  
All I find are faded pictures from a distant life  
And I wish to God I could see your eyes  
I ain't got no magic potion  
All I know is that we're better of together than we ever were alone  
So if you let me try  
Just give me time,  
Oh  
Woman I will find a way to help you ease your troubled mind  
If the morning comes I'll be thankful just to see the sun  
But the daylight seems so far away  
I open my eyes. I didn’t even notice I closed them. Next to me, Emilia is looking at me strangely, smiling, but it looks very positive and I like it. There’s a glint in her eyes that I can’t recognize but I don’t even have to analyze because immediately, her lips are on mine, her hand around the back of my neck.  
Her lips are soft. They were spicy from the dinner we just had and sweet from something else I can’t quite figure out, but I want more. I deepen the kiss and I feel her smile against my lips. Putting my hand on her back, I slide her on the bench, pulling her closer to me. I feel her sigh.  
She pulls back, eliciting a groan from me, her head is ducked so I can’t see her face, but I can tell she’s smiling. When she looks back up at me, she’s smiling sheepishly and she turns to look straight above the piano. She lays a finger on one of the keys letting the sound echo the room.  
Emilia looks back to me, her face half hidden by her hair. “So what do we do now?”  
“We could finish the film we abandoned then I could take you home.”  
“Okay.”  
“Okay.” I stand up, taking her hand and leading her to the couch. Her hand is small in mine and I can’t ignore the fact that it fits in mine so comfortably.  
We make ourselves comfortable on the couch before I press play. I’ve only seen this film once before, but Emilia is very enthralled. Her eyes are glued to the screen, grinning when something funny or outstanding happens, but at one point, she pries her eyes away and they land on me.  
A sort of silent conversation happens between us. She can sense what I’m about to do or what I want to do and she does it before me. She reaches over to my hand and interlaces our fingers. I look down to our entwined hands and when I look back to her, she has a shy smirk on her face and then she turns back to the telly.  
When the film is over, I can tell Emilia’s tired because when she goes to stand up, she stumbled back a bit and I catch her in case she does manage to fall, reveling in the feeling of having my arms around her. She chuckles to herself and the sound of her low voice making that noise makes me smile.  
We walk down to the parking garage where Pete is waiting and I wonder if he ever left the underground area. I lead her to the SUV, opening the door for her and she blushes. The ride to the X Factor house is as quiet as the ride from there, but this time, my hand finds Emilia’s like hers found mine during the film.  
When we make it to the house, I offer to walk her to the door and she doesn’t refuse. At her door, we say our goodbyes but I can’t let her leave without doing one more thing. I pull her waist to me and connect our lips. When I pull away, she’s breathless and I can tell she’s trying to compose herself. I’m glad I have that effect on her and I smirk at her expression.  
“So when can I see you again?” I ask.  
“I’m not sure.”  
“Soon hopefully?”  
“Definitely… you’ll call me?”  
“Definitely.”  
“Okay.”  
I smile. “Okay.”  
She giggles. “Okay.” She turns around to unlock the door and before she opens it, she turns back around. “Goodnight.” She steps forward, on her toes, and kisses my cheek. She goes inside and when I hear the deadlock, I start for the car.  
I’m smiling as I make my way to the car. But then my grin falls off when my conversation with Harry comes to mind. It’s sinking in that I really am falling. I’m falling for Emilia. For her smile, her laugh, her voice, her passion, her mind. Harry is right; I am being reckless. I’m not thinking straight in my state of deliria. And I’m scared for us. I’m scared for Emilia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song credits to 1D(obv.), Sara Bareilles, and Ron Pope. Hope you liked! :)


End file.
